Southeast Minnesota Scam Costs Victim Over $60K

Goodhue County, MN (KROC-AM News)- A resident of southeast Minnesota recently fell victim to a costly scam. 

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That’s according to the Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office. The scam was reported to law enforcement earlier this month. 

Authorities say the scam victim reported getting a pop-up on their computer that appeared to have been from Microsoft. The Belle Creek Township resident then reported calling a phone number on the pop-up and was told that hackers had taken over their computer. 

The scammer also indicated to the victim that they had lost $31,500 from the faux hacking. The victim was then instructed to send twice that amount in bitcoin to get their money back. 

Officials say the victim followed those instructions leading to a loss of $63,000. The Goodhue County Sheriff’s Office is reminding residents to talk to their loved ones about scams. 

The pop-up scam comes off the heels of a banking scam reported earlier this month in Goodhue County. 

In that case the victim lost $16,000 after getting a phone call from a scammer who had spoofed the phone number from the victim’s bank.